It is a kind of irony of history. In two years, it will have been exactly 50 years since Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, suspended civil liberties, jailed a number of opposition figures and imposed censorship. It was the closest India came to dictatorship since the pearl of the British Empire gained independence.

At that time, civil society, and above all the judiciary, opposed the authoritarian tastes of the daughter of the first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru. The Indian National Congress overwhelmingly lost the election, and the typically gray-haired iron lady of Indian politics succumbed to the opposition for two years.

Now her grandson and current leader of the Indian National Congress has become the target of similar practices. Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in prison a week ago for joking at an election rally that “the thieves have the Modi family name”. Gandhi was expelled from Parliament after the ruling and protests by his supporters broke out in the streets.